


Love Me Tender

by cazswrites



Category: New Girl
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26893912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazswrites/pseuds/cazswrites
Summary: *All the usual disclaimers, characters not my own etc**Title taken from Love Me Tender- Elvis Presley*This is just a collection of little bits of fluff about Nick and Jess's relationship, hope you like it!It's not gonna be chronological, or strict to canon, just stuff I think is cute and would liked to have seen(Also, it's the first thing I've ever written for Nick and Jess, and also one of the first things I've written ever lmao, so please be nice)
Relationships: Jessica Day/Nick Miller
Comments: 22
Kudos: 49





	1. Pancake Sunday

On a bright Sunday morning in Apartment 4D, the sun streamed in through the gap in Jess’ curtains, and roused her from her sleep. She woke to the welcome weight of Nick’s arm across her waist and his deep breathing on the back of her neck. Gently shifting in his arms, she turned onto her back, in order to press three gentle kisses to his temple with a whispered “Good morning, baby”. 

With this, his grip on her tightened as he rolled over so he was almost completely on top of her, pressing his face deep into her shoulder with a murmured “mornin’”, and hitching a leg over her waist. She chuckled, and slid one hand under his T-shirt to gently rub up and down his back, whilst sliding her other hand into his hair scratching at his scalp. His gentle hum served only as confirmation of the technique she had perfected to get him back to sleep in under two minutes.

She loved this feeling, of being completely engulfed by him. It made her feel completely loved by him, like he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. It made her think about the many other ways Nick made her feel that way. 

Even before they were together, despite his gruff exterior, he would always let her burrow under his arm if there was a scary scene in a movie, or let her throw her legs over his lap during movie night (he’d always at least pretend to protest with a half-hearted “get off of me, ya ninny”, but he never made any movements to push her away). Sure, she was affectionate with all the boys, it wasn’t uncommon for Schmidt and Winston to put their head on her lap or climb into her bed after a rough day. However, there was something about the way it was with Nick that always felt a little different. 

It was during their time in Chicago when things really began to change. Jess and Nick ended up seated next to each other during the flight, and straight away Nick put his hood up and turned away from her, placing his head on the window. Jess felt all the breath whoosh out of her just looking at him, thinking about how much she cared for him. Without a second thought, she slid her hand into his, interlocking their fingers. She felt Nick’s hand tense up, then relax into hers, and he began stroking her palm with his thumb whilst shooting her a sad smile. 

She barely saw him at all the next few days, as he was busy being the responsible one of the family, and her and the guys were busy helping his mom with other preparations. It wasn’t until the night of the funeral when she saw the true impact that the last few days had on Nick. After a long day, and quite a few drinks at the bar afterwards, the four of them fell into bed. Schmidt and Winston took the bunkbeds in the guest room, whilst Jess was on an air mattress on the floor of Nick’s childhood bedroom. 

She was deep in sleep until she felt the mattress dip, and Nick’s arms go around her under the Chicago Bears comforter. Sliding one arm under her neck and the other tight across her waist, Nick pulls her flush against him and buries his face in her hair. She is surprised when she feels tears on the back of her head and attempts to move so she can hold him, but he just squeezes her tighter with a strained “please don’t move, Jess”. So, she settles for lifting up the hand that was curled around her shoulder and kissing the palm, rubbing his arm in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. She feels Nick’s deep breaths against her back as he begins to fall asleep, and she succumbs to the pull of sleep herself. The next morning, she wakes to an empty bed, but a cup of coffee placed on the side table, and when she ventures downstairs, Nick offers her a shy smile as he places a plate of pancakes down in front of her. 

Ever since then, things had been different. When he finally kissed her again, she thought about how he tasted a bit like beer and a bit like the excitement of things to come. The first morning they woke up together, he pulled her on top of him, rubbing her back underneath her pyjama top and pressing gentle kisses against her neck, and he has done the same every morning since. 

She thinks about how he always rubs her thigh when they’re in the car, and always holds her hand without her even having to ask. He always makes her a cup of tea after a long day, and always picks her up from girls’ nights with Cece. He always lets her curl up on his lap when Winston puts one of his dumb scary movies on, and always hugs her tight when she gets cold stood in the queue for whatever weird bar Schmidt drags them to because he hears a rumour Kanye likes to go there.

With all of that, she pulls Nick even tighter to her, and places three more kisses to his stubbly cheek. “Five more minutes, Nicholas”, she says with a big smile on her face, “I can hear Schmidt in the kitchen, it's Pancake Sunday!"


	2. Lovesick

Nick and Jess had always looked after each other, way before they were even dating. Jess always filled up the coffee pot before she left for work so Nick didn’t have to when he woke up. Nick always let Jess squeeze his hand when she was watching The Walking Dead, mostly because he knew if he didn’t, she’d be knocking on his door in the middle of the night asking him can he walk her to the bathroom because she was scared.

They were particularly good at looking after one another when one of them was sick.

When Nick had accidentally punched her in the haunted house, he felt so bad about it that he felt physically sick. He took her straight home, bypassing Sam and the rest of their friends on the way out, and got her posted up on the couch with some Tylenol, a cup of hot chocolate, and held an ice pack against her face until it was completely melted.  
He couldn’t help but sit as close to her as possible, one hand cupping her face and gently rubbing back and forth against the injured cheek, and the other scratching gently up and down her back. Jess took this as an invitation to snuggle in closer, throwing her legs over his lap and securing her arms tight around his waist.

As her sniffles began to finally die down, she gently whispered “thank you, Nick”, accompanied by a slight squeeze of his waist.

Nick was shocked, “What have you got to thank me for, Jessica? I punched you in the damn head!”.  
She didn’t respond to this, choosing instead to bury her head deeply into his chest, and taking a few more deep breaths. Nick continued to rub her back and not ask any questions, not asking why she chose Nick to take her home instead of Sam, or why she now had herself wrapped round him so tight he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to (which he didn’t).

Eventually, her breathing evened out and Nick could tell without even looking at her that she was fast asleep. In a weird way, he kind of liked that he had comforted her to the point that she had felt safe enough to go to sleep, obviously disregarding the fact that it was his stupid fault that she was upset in the first place.

He gently stood up, keeping Jess in his arms, carefully making his way to Jess’ bedroom. Trying to pull back her covers whilst keeping a tight hold on her was difficult, but he manages it. Tucking her into her sheets and placing two gentle kisses on her forehead, he sets a reminder in his phone to call Sadie tomorrow to check her over. Moving quietly back into the kitchen, he places two Tylenol and a glass of water next to her bed, and leaves her to get some rest.

Another time, Jess had had a long week at school, and there was no noise from the boys so she presumed they were out, and she wanted a movie night. Getting changed into her comfiest pairs of sweatpants (pilfered from Schmidt’s laundry a couple of months back) and Nick’s hoodie from the back of the couch, she got her snacks ready and put on Titanic, one of her favourites.

She took his opportunity to fully stretch out on the couch, something that couldn’t usually happen as she was usually squeezed between Nick and Winston who was yelling at a video game, and Schmidt typing furiously on his laptop (“I’ve got a presentation for Tokyo tomorrow, you heathens!”).

Just as she was finally getting comfortable, she heard Nick’s bedroom door open and heard a sad voice say “I’m sick, Jessica”. Jess looked up to see Nick shuffling out of his room, tissues in hand.

“Come on then dummy, you know the drill”, Jess replied, opening her arms out to him. Nick stretched out on top of her, with her legs bracketing him and his arms snaked around her waist. He tucks his head right under her chin, and gives her a squeeze as he settles in without a word. Jess kisses her forehead, feeling his temperature as she rakes his fingernails up and down his back under his t-shirt.

Before they had gotten together, she would never have guessed Nick Miller was such a cuddler. Sometimes, just before he fell asleep, he would gather her up in his arms so tight that it felt like he was trying to worm his way under her skin. Like right now, his hand snuck up the back of her hoodie to rub his fingertips gently at the small of her back, just needing some skin to skin contact.

They quickly fell into silence, with Nick’s eyes drooping shut and Jess’s attention returning to the movie, her hands still continuing their movements up and down Nick’s back.

“This movie is so dumb”, came a small voice from under Jess’ chin, “I’d get us both on that piece of damn wood”.

Jess lets out a small laugh, “I know you would, Nick. Now go back to sleep, and if you’re lucky afterwards we can watch that Chicago Bulls documentary you’ve been talking about doe the last three weeks”.

Nick snuggled in further, giving Jess’ waist a tight squeeze and placing two kisses on her neck, “I definitely would. Every damn time, sweetheart”.

Jess’ heart sped up, like it did every single time she was lucky enough to hear Nick Miller call her “sweetheart”, or “honey”, or “baby”. She could not believe her luck that her grumpy, beer-drinking, bartending roommate chose her to love every day.

She smoothed his hair back, whispering “I’m so in love with you, Nick Miller” into his ear, as she settled back to catch the last bit of the movie.


	3. I Think We Both Kinda Liked It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Title taken from one of the greatest songs of all time, Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something*  
> This is just a little chapter of Nick and Jess sharing a bed during their time at the desert in See Ya. Hope you like it!

Night had fallen on the desert, and the gang had settled in various places to try and get a few hours of sleep. Schmidt and Winston were in the back of the removal truck, sprawled out over various pieces of Nick’s furniture. Cece was tucked up in the backseat of Jess’ car, using four of Nick’s shirts for blankets, leaving Nick and Jess with Nick’s beat-up oldthat had been in the truck.

It had been a long night for all them. Disregarding Winston’s panic over perishing in the desert and the large quantity of beer that had been consumed, Schmidt and Cece had broken things off, leaving an uneasy feeling in the air for the rest of the group. Additionally, and most important to Jess, there was the conversation with Nick. She had taken Schmidt’s advice and told Nick she was happy for him. She had put her own feelings to one side, and told him if he thinks moving in with Caroline will make him happy, then he should do it. It had left the two of them in quite a weird place; leaving Nick wondering whether he was making a dumb decision, and leaving Jess wondering she should tell Nick that she wants him so bad it makes her head spin.

In the early hours of the morning, Jess awoke to her teeth chattering, the cold California morning air surrounding her. Despite being wrapped up in one of Nick’s sweaters and his old winter coat, she was freezing. She could hear Nick’s heavy breathing behind her, his position mirroring her body but not quite touching. She attempted to shift backwards into his body heat, but it didn’t seem to be working.

She couldn’t take the cold for a moment later, so in one swift movement, she flipped over, burying her head into the crook of his shoulder, and yanking his arm to go over her. Nick shifted, sliding one arm under her neck and surrounding her legs with his to tuck her further into his body.

“What’s up, Jessica? Got ants in your pants?”, Nick whispered with a grin, still not opening his eyes.

“Don’t be a jerk, Miller, just cuddle me”, Jess replied, sneaking her hand under the many layers he had on to warm her cold hands on his back. This made Nick jerk, “get those icicles offa me, you idiot”, but he made no move to shift away from her.

Nick did as he was told, trying his best to keep his eyes open whilst attempting to rub some warmth back into Jess’ freezing cold limbs. Jess, on the other hand,pressing her face as far into Nick’s neck as possible, let the warmth and deep breathing of her roommate lull her into a deep sleep.

They woke up tangled in each other, Nick pulling her ever-closer as he let out a trademarked Miller morning groan. He placed one kiss onto her cheek, squeezed her once more and rolled out of bed, busying himself with waking the others. It wasn't mentioned again, but he did rub her back a bit longer than usual when passing her a bottle of water, and he throw through a wink her way as he was piling stuff back into the van. 

Jess didn't know what to think, but knew for sure that something had changed.


	4. Drunk in Love

It was a Saturday night, and Nick Miller had the night off for the first time in forever. Schmidt and Winston were at some dumb club event together, and Jess was at a girls night with Cece. So, Nick was chilling out with a couple beers and reruns of Breaking Bad.

Well, he was until Jess came barrelling through the door, casting aside her bag and heels, and collapsing onto the couch with a big “oomph”.

“Hey, kid”, he whispers, pulling at her gently until she shuffles up the couch enough to place her head on his lap. Once he has her situated comfortably, he leans closer and peppers gentle kisses all over her face as she reaches up to cup his face.Pulling back, he asks “did you have a good night with Cece?”

“Yeah it was a lot of fun”, Jess replied earnestly, looking up at him with her big blue eyes, “but I missed you”

“I missed you too, sweetheart”, said Nick, leaning her to give her a kiss with a huge smile on his face.

Jess closes her eyes and snuggles in closer and lets out a big sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Nick asks, gently stroking her cheekbone with his thumb in a hope to soothe whatever she’s worried about,

Letting out another huge sigh, Jess mutters, “Nick, I really want us to be together forever”

Nick can’t help put press another kiss to her lips whilst he tries to hold back laughter “Baby, don’t worry about that, you have me forever”.

“I have you?” she questioned sleepily

“Till the wheels fall off, kid”.

Whilst Jess settles into sleep on his lap, Nick gives her a final kiss and settles back with his beer, feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.


End file.
